Who We Are

Friends of Judea and Samaria is a working group in the European Parliament consisting of members from various political groups and political parties. It was founded by Petr Mach, MEP and Yossi Dagan, chairman of the Shomron Regional Council. Since September 2017 Jiří Payne became co-chairman of the group.

The aim of the group is to

– stop funding of Palestinian terrorism from the European Union budget

– abolish trade barriers of the European Union imposed on Jewish goods from the West Bank (Judea and Samaria)

Money taken from European taxpayers and transferred by the European Commission to the Palestinian Authority is used or misused to support terrorist attacks on Jews. Because the European Commission is not able to control where its money goes we seek to stop transfers of any EU money to the Palestinians. This will save Jewish lives and European taxpayers money.

Regarding trade, the European Union sadly applies different approach to Palestinian and to Jewish exports from the West Bank. While Palestinian goods are free from tariffs and quotas, Jewish goods are subject to high tariffs. We seek elimination of trade barriers on Jewish goods and their labelling. It will save European consumers’ money and jobs for both Jewish and Palestinian workers.

Israel is a friend and an important ally. We have established this working group in order to strengthen this friendship and to improve the wellbeing of European taxpayers and consumers as well as Jews and Palestinians in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria).